MARCH 31, 2016Green Germany: A packaging-free perspective on grocery shoppingImagine that you no longer have a trash can. There is no place to throw away waste inside of your home, and no trash bin outside that you can set on your curb for your municipality to collect for you. Every piece of garbage that you would normally throw in the trash and forget about is now strewn about your home, dispersed among your food, clothes and furniture. You’d probably eventually get sick of the trash, dig some holes in your backyard and fill those with the waste, but what happens when you run out of space there? You’d quickly realize that your backyard is finite, and instead of thinking of different places you could put your waste, you might start brainstorming ways you could cut it off at the source.

MARCH 30, 2016Win a selection of books from noted authors speaking at Earth Day conferenceTo celebrate the stories and perspectives being shared at the tenth annual Nelson Institute Earth Day Conference on April 25, the institute will randomly select five conference attendees who will each receive a collection of five books by featured speakers David Quammen, Carolyn Finney, Andrew Revkin, Kimberly Blaeser, and Michael Shellenberger.

MARCH 30, 2016No snow, no hares: Climate change pushes emblematic species northIf there is an animal emblematic of the northern winter, it is the snowshoe hare. A forest dweller, the snowshoe hare is named for its big feet, which allow it to skitter over deep snow to escape lynx, coyotes and other predators. It changes color with the seasons, assuming a snow-white fur coat for winter camouflage.

MARCH 4, 2016Sustainable SwedenNo society is sustainable because they want to be. Switching from a petroleum-based economy to one based on renewables is expensive and a big adjustment, and as a person who is still adjusting to living in a different country, I completely understand why big changes are scary. So then why are societies making the switch?